Filed under: Government/Legal , Safety , Technology , Lexus , Toyota So far, the lawsuits brought forth against Toyota for unintended acceleration have gone both ways: the automaker was found not at fault in a 2009 California crash and liable for a 2007 crash in Oklahoma . Both cases involved a Camry and resulted in fatalities. With a big chunk of these UA cases (around 200) set to his the docket of US District Judge James V. Selna in Santa Ana, California, Bloomberg is reporting that the judge has halted the lawsuits until March after Toyota and its lawyers have had extra time to try and settle the cases. According to the article, Toyota is looking to take care of the cases out of court with an “intensive settlement process.” Having already paid out $1.6 billion in “economic loss” suits , this latest settlement process is aimed at the wrongful death and personal injury cases allegedly associated with unintended acceleration. A hearing for the settlements will be held on January 14 with conferences on the matter commencing in February. There is no word as to when lawsuits may start back up if settlements can’t be agreed upon. Judge halts Toyota unintended acceleration cases, triggers time for settlement negotiations originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 16 Dec 2013 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Filed under: Car Buying , Truck , Toyota Even as General Motors prepares to redesign its midsize pickups, the market for sub-fullsize trucks continues to shrink. The remaining competitors in the segment are the well-aged Nissan Frontier , Honda Ridgeline and Toyota Tacoma , and now Truck Trend is reporting that the latter will be dropping its regular cab model due to poor sales. According to the article, the available configurations for the Tacoma lineup will be whittled down in 2015, which apparently spells the end for the two-door Taco. The Tacoma is currently the last truck in its class to be offered in a regular cab configuration, with the Frontier no longer offering a standard cab model and spy shots of the next-gen Chevrolet Colorado not revealing any glimpse of a short cab, either. Toyota to drop regular-cab Tacoma as small pickups take another hit originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 02 Aug 2013 18:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Filed under: Performance , BMW , Toyota Earlier this year, BMW and Toyota confirmed a four-part joint venture mostly focusing on increasing improving vehicle efficiency using fuel cells, lightweight materials and better battery technology. Also tucked into the announcement was a “feasibility study” for a shared platform to underpin a future midsize “sports vehicle.” In terms of the latter, it seems that things have stepped up from the feasibility stage to the conceptual stage, as Motor Trend reports we could see a pair of new sports car concepts debut later this year in at the Tokyo Motor Show . There isn’t much information about the new program, but the article suggests the sports cars could be all-wheel drive hybrids, with electric motors powering the front wheels and a gas engine powering the rear wheels. While a partnership between Toyota and BMW might not lend itself to a catchy portmanteau like ” Toyobaru ,” here’s hoping it will bear fruit that is as exciting as the ones produced by the Toyota/ Subaru tie up. BMW-Toyota sports car heading towards Tokyo debut originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 20 May 2013 18:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink

Filed under: Sedan , Toyota As automakers are preparing to release sales figures for October, Toyota is looking a little further ahead by claiming that the Camry is the best-selling car in the US for the 11th straight year a full two months early. Based on sales figures through September, Toyota thinks that its 67,000-unit lead over the closest competitor is big enough to make a fourth-quarter comeback statistically impossible. Camry sales are up about 37 percent through September with 314,788 units sold compared to 247,847 units for the next-closest car, the Honda Accord . The Accord would have to double the Camry’s sales for the rest of the year in order to vie for the “best-selling car” title, and so far in 2012 Accord hasn’t even been able to match the Camry’s numbers. That being said, Automotive News does say that the stellar Camry’s 2012 sales also include higher-than-normal fleet sales accounting for 15 percent of the total – or around 60,000 units-compared to 10 percent that the article states is where Camry fleet sales usually are. The Nissan Altima (234,040), Honda Civic (234,029) and Toyota Corolla (222,703) round out the top five cars of 2012 so far. Next year will likely prove to be a little more challenging for the Toyota with redesigned midsize competitors such as the Ford Fusion , Altima, Accord, Chevrolet Malibu and Mazda6 all looking to put some added heat on the Camry – not to mention a substantially updated Civic will be hitting the scene as well. Toyota claims best-selling car crown two months early originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 29 Oct 2012 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink